Sharing videos and Christmas joy

By Emma Levine / December 2013

Canadian airline WestJet performed a Christmas miracle for 250 passengers and captured it on film to create a heartwarming communications piece.

WestJet setup a live Santa Cam where guests could scan their boarding pass and tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. This alone was a special gesture with Santa engaging the children by name, much to their delight! Meanwhile employees frantically purchased and wrapped each wish list item and surprised travellers with gifts when their flight landed a couple of hours later.

Within four days the video has amassed over 9.5 million views on Youtube.

It is a relatively inexpensive way to effectively share a story about brand positioning and values. The film uses emotional storytelling, but keeps it positive throughout, to build goodwill and warm-and-fuzzies. WestJet establishes themselves as the friendly (and fun!) airline where their internal culture is boosted by the fact that over 80% of all employees are also company owners.

WestJet is often cited as one of the best companies to work for in Canada and the positivity of their team shines through in this film where employees are able to spread some Christmas joy.